docs(pstack): refresh guide for /correct, checklist, prompting tips

pstack/.cursor-plugin/plugin.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
 	"name": "pstack",
 	"displayName": "pstack",
-	"version": "0.15.12",
+	"version": "0.15.13",
 	"description": "if you want to go fast, go deep first. pstack helps you write less, but higher quality code. rigorous agent workflows you can parallelize with confidence.",
 	"author": {
 		"name": "Lauren Tan"

pstack/docs/guide/01-setup.md

@@ -30,10 +30,21 @@ You might be wondering what happens if you use Auto. Set a role to `inherit-pare
 
 At the end of setup, `/setup-pstack` looks for a way to prove app behavior in your project, either a `verify-*` skill or an existing harness. If it finds neither, it offers once to generate one with [`/create-verification-skill`](../../skills/create-verification-skill/SKILL.md).
 
-Say yes and it writes `.cursor/skills/verify-<app>/`, a project-local skill that teaches agents to drive your app the way a user does. It proves the skill works once before handing it over. Say no and setup moves on. You can run `/create-verification-skill` yourself any time. [Verify and ship](./06-verify-and-ship.md#create-a-project-verification-skill) covers when it earns its place.
+Say yes and it writes `.cursor/skills/verify-<app>/`, a project-local skill that teaches agents to drive your app the way a user does. It proves the skill works once before handing it over. Say no and setup moves on. You can run `/create-verification-skill` yourself any time. [Verify and ship](./06-verify-and-ship.md#create-a-project-verification-skill) covers it in depth.
+
+If you're new to pstack, say yes. An agent that can check its own work keeps going until the check passes. An agent that can't hands every result back to you to check by hand. Of everything in this guide, the verification skill pays off the most.
 
 After setup, start a new chat. The model rule applies to new sessions.
 
+## Keep the cost in check
+
+pstack spends extra tokens on subagents and review panels. That's the price of the rigor. To spend fewer:
+
+- Rerun `/setup-pstack` and pick a smaller reasoning budget or cheaper models. A strong model in the main chat with cheaper, faster models in the code roles is a good split.
+- Set a role to `auto` or `inherit-parent` so it runs on the chat's own model.
+- Shorten a panel list. Each entry runs one subagent.
+- Save `/poteto-mode` for work that needs rigor. A small, obvious edit doesn't.
+
 ## Run your first task
 
 Pick something real but small, and describe it the way you'd describe it to a colleague:

pstack/docs/guide/02-poteto-mode.md

@@ -37,6 +37,37 @@ You don't write a spec. You say what's wrong or what you want, plus anything you
 
 That's a Bug fix prompt. "repro first" is a real constraint, not politeness, and the playbook honors it. Watch the todo list fill with the Bug fix steps. A skipped step stays visible with `skip: <reason>`.
 
+## What goes in a prompt
+
+A useful prompt carries up to five things, and each one fits in a sentence:
+
+- **The goal.** Say what's wrong, or what you want.
+- **The done check.** It must be able to pass or fail. "Make it better" and "work on it for an hour" aren't checks.
+- **The proof you want to see.** Ask for the real command output, a video of the flow, the stored value, or a before-and-after number.
+- **What you already know.** A symptom, a repro step, a log line, or a link saves the agent a search.
+- **The real constraints.** "repro first", "don't change any code yet", "zero behavior change", and "let me review before proceeding" each change what the agent does.
+
+Here's one prompt with all five:
+
+```text
+/poteto-mode the csv export drops its last row since yesterday's deploy. failing job id is 4812. repro first, then fix. done means the 60k-row fixture exports every row. show me the row counts before and after.
+```
+
+Two things are worth leaving out:
+
+- **The how.** Say what to achieve, and leave the agent room to find a better path than the one you'd pick. The same goes for a list of skills, covered in the pitfall below.
+- **Your theory of the cause, at first.** A stated guess narrows the search to wherever you pointed. Let the agent restate the problem before you share your hunch.
+
+For a noisy report, such as a long thread or a vague bug, make the restatement the first step:
+
+```text
+/poteto-mode read this thread. restate the underlying issue in your own words, in plain english. don't change any code yet.
+```
+
+A misreading shows up in the restatement, before any code exists. Correct it there, and it costs you one message instead of one wrong fix.
+
+## Follow up short
+
 When the conversation already carries the context, the prompt shrinks to almost nothing. All of these are enough:
 
 ```text
@@ -63,15 +94,17 @@ A long chat accumulates context from the last task. When you change subjects, sa
 
 "new task" tells `/poteto-mode` to re-match rather than continue the prior playbook. "don't change any code yet" pins this one to Investigation. Without those two phrases, a mode mid-Feature tends to treat your question as the next feature step.
 
-## Give parallel work its own worktree
+## Give parallel work its own machine
+
+If you run several agents against one repository on one computer, they will fight over the working tree, the ports, and the build output. The cleanest isolation is a [cloud subagent](https://cursor.com/docs/subagents#cloud-subagents). Each one gets its own VM and branch, so it can install dependencies, run your app, and record video of the result without touching your machine. Type `/in-cloud` before the task, or ask the parent chat to hand work to cloud subagents.
 
-If you run several agents against one repository, they will fight over the working tree. Ask for isolation up front:
+When the work has to stay local, ask for a worktree up front:
 
 ```text
 /poteto-mode new task. branch off <base> in a fresh worktree, then port the parser change there.
 ```
 
-Each task in its own branch and worktree means no agent stomps another's files. The [Opening a PR playbook](../../skills/poteto-mode/playbooks/opening-a-pr.md) already works from a worktree for code changes, so mostly you only say this when a specific base or location matters.
+Each task in its own branch and worktree means no agent stomps another's files. Worktrees cost disk and machine resources, so a laptop runs only a handful at once. The [Opening a PR playbook](../../skills/poteto-mode/playbooks/opening-a-pr.md) already works from a worktree for code changes, so mostly you only say this when a specific base or location matters.
 
 Worktrees accumulate. When disk gets tight, ask:
 

pstack/docs/guide/03-understand.md

@@ -1,9 +1,21 @@
 # Understand the code before changing it
 
-Editing code you don't understand is how subtle regressions ship. pstack gives you four ways in. `/how` explains what the code does now. `/why` digs up the reasons it's shaped that way. `/teach` blends both into one explanation. `/recall` rebuilds your own recent context on a topic.
+Editing code you don't understand is how subtle regressions ship, and that's as true for the agent as for you. Agents usually fail in one of two ways. They misread what you want, or they don't have the context to do the work right. [What goes in a prompt](./02-poteto-mode.md#what-goes-in-a-prompt) handles the first. This page handles the second.
+
+pstack gives you four ways in. `/how` explains what the code does now. `/why` digs up the reasons it's shaped that way. `/teach` blends both into one explanation. `/recall` rebuilds your own recent context on a topic. Each one also makes the agent explain itself in words you can check. That's how you supervise an agent that may know the code better than you do.
 
 ![A detective studies a machine blueprint with a magnifying glass while robots fetch case files; the evidence board behind her links clues under /how and /why.](./images/understanding.jpg)
 
+## Start with a read-only investigation
+
+When the cause is unclear, ask for findings, not a fix:
+
+```text
+/poteto-mode investigate why background jobs time out every few hours. give me what we know, what data you used, and your best hypotheses. don't change any code yet.
+```
+
+"don't change any code yet" routes this to the [Investigation playbook](../../skills/poteto-mode/playbooks/investigation.md). It runs `/how`, adds `/why` for questions about motivation, and returns a cited explanation. For a choice between options, it returns a recommendation with a trade-offs table. Asking "what data you used" makes the agent separate its evidence from its guesses. When the findings point at a fix, start the fix as a new task.
+
 ## Trace behavior with `/how`
 
 ```text
@@ -30,13 +42,27 @@ The two compose naturally. `do why first then how` is a perfectly good prompt wh
 
 [`/teach`](../../skills/teach/SKILL.md) is for when a summary isn't enough. It runs `/how` and `/why`, for a small change maybe just one of them, and weaves the findings into a plain explanation that builds up diagram by diagram. The "convince me" framing is worth stealing. It turns the explanation into an argument you can poke at instead of a tour.
 
+It works on the agent's own choices too:
+
+```text
+/teach me why you implemented it this way and not with a queue. what did you trade off, and why?
+```
+
+Teaching helps the agent as much as you. An agent that has to explain its work must read the code and back each claim with evidence, instead of stating it confidently and moving on.
+
 ## Rebuild your own context with `/recall`
 
 ```text
 /recall catch me up on the export work from last week
 ```
 
-[`/recall`](../../skills/recall/SKILL.md) mines your own recent chats plus the shared record (issues, prior fixes, errors still firing) and hands back a brief on where things stand and what's next. Use it when you're returning to a topic cold. If you want to resume one specific chat, that's the Session pickup playbook below, not `/recall`.
+[`/recall`](../../skills/recall/SKILL.md) mines your own recent chats plus the shared record (issues, prior fixes, errors still firing) and hands back a brief on where things stand and what's next. Your old chats hold context that a fresh agent lacks, so start new work on an old topic by loading it first, then hand over the new input:
+
+```text
+/recall my work on the virtualized list from yesterday, then read this bug report.
+```
+
+If you want to resume one specific chat, that's the Session pickup playbook below, not `/recall`.
 
 ## Take over prior work with Session pickup
 

pstack/docs/guide/04-design.md

@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 One attempt at a hard design locks in the first shape the model thought of. `/architect` settles types and boundaries before implementation. `/arena` runs several attempts at the same brief and merges the best parts. `/interrogate` has other models try to break the result. When the job is coverage rather than design synthesis, `/swarm` fans out slices or races and aggregates their results.
 
+The two most common design mistakes are taking the agent's first design and polishing a plan that no code has tested. This page fixes both. You plan through code: prototypes answer the open questions, a README or tutorial sets the target, and the written plan comes last.
+
 ![Three robots draft competing bridge models at their own tables under /architect, /arena, and /interrogate panels, while a judge robot with a clipboard inspects skeptically.](./images/design.jpg)
 
 ## Settle the shape with `/architect`
@@ -18,6 +20,8 @@ By default it proceeds straight from the synthesized design into implementation.
 /architect with checkpoint. stop and show me before implementing.
 ```
 
+The design isn't sacred once code starts. If implementation shows the same workaround in unrelated places, or types that only compile with `any` or forced casts, `/architect` treats that as proof the design is wrong. It scraps the sketch and starts over instead of patching around it.
+
 ## Fan out attempts with `/arena`
 
 ```text
@@ -66,6 +70,52 @@ Reach for it when parallelism buys coverage or lets independent checks race. `/a
 
 Read the dismissals too. The lead is a pragmatic senior engineer, not an oracle, and you can override it.
 
+## Prototype instead of debating
+
+Never take the first design. Ask for a few, and pick from evidence you can see:
+
+```text
+/poteto-mode prototype a few options for the new dropdown menu. take screenshots or videos for me to compare.
+```
+
+The [Prototype playbook](../../skills/poteto-mode/playbooks/prototype.md) builds throwaway sketches in a scratch directory, puts the variants behind one switcher, drives each one, and captures screenshots or timings. It also works for behavior and algorithms, not just UI. Prototypes are planning with code. They let the agent answer its own open questions by running something instead of asking you, and they leave room for an option you wouldn't have thought of.
+
+The same idea scales up to a real design. Pair `/architect` with prototypes and keep a review gate:
+
+```text
+/poteto-mode we need rate limiting for external webhooks. /architect it first, and answer open questions with prototypes. let me review before proceeding.
+```
+
+Don't spend reviewers on an abstract plan. `/interrogate` belongs on a diff. Point adversarial review at a plan with no code behind it and the reviewers invent theoretical risks and edge cases that will never happen. Let prototypes settle the questions, then review what got built.
+
+## Write the README first for shared code
+
+For a package or API that other code will use, start with the doc a user would read:
+
+```text
+/poteto-mode write a tutorial for how i would use the new config package first. then /teach me why it beats the current one.
+```
+
+Writing the tutorial first forces the caller's view. You describe the API to a hypothetical user and work back to the implementation. The doc also becomes a concrete target the agent checks its own work against. Name [`/technical-writing`](../../skills/technical-writing/SKILL.md) when the doc itself matters, so a tutorial stays a tutorial instead of drifting into reference and explanation at once.
+
+## Plan after the design settles
+
+pstack has no planning skill, on purpose. When you do want a written plan, ask for it once the design is settled:
+
+```text
+/poteto-mode turn this design into a plan. small verifiable PRs, each with its own verification steps.
+```
+
+The [Multi-phase plan playbook](../../skills/poteto-mode/playbooks/multi-phase-plan.md) settles any remaining open questions by prototype, then writes one section per PR, each ending in proof that the change works. A passing test suite alone doesn't count as that proof. The plan is the deliverable. The playbook doesn't implement it, and it names which execution playbook should run it next.
+
+For a migration, state the bar in the prompt:
+
+```text
+/poteto-mode plan the migration of our ui library to the new styling system. small verifiable PRs, each with visual regression checks. the result must match the original exactly, bugs included.
+```
+
+"bugs included" keeps the migration from quietly fixing things on the way, which would make the old and new output impossible to compare. For a project that spans many days, you can commit the plan to the repo for a while so other agents see the work in progress. Delete it when the work lands.
+
 ## How much design work does a task deserve?
 
 You might be wondering whether every change needs this. No. Most changes need none of it. A rough ladder:
@@ -74,7 +124,9 @@ You might be wondering whether every change needs this. No. Most changes need no
 - A change that crosses function boundaries or moves ownership earns `/architect`, which brings `/arena` with it.
 - A standalone decision where independent attempts would help, like naming, formats, or an algorithm, is `/arena` directly.
 - A coverage matrix, set of parallel checks, or race with declared arms is `/swarm`.
+- An open question you could answer by running something, like a layout, a timing, or an approach, gets a prototype, not a debate.
 - A contested design that's expensive to reverse gets `/architect`, then `/interrogate` before shipping.
+- Work that spans several PRs gets a plan, written after the design settles.
 
 `/poteto-mode` already applies this ladder. Boundary-crossing work triggers `/architect` on its own, so you reach for these directly mainly when you want more or less scrutiny than the default.
 

pstack/docs/guide/05-build-and-clean.md

@@ -32,6 +32,14 @@ Each of these routes to its playbook ([Bug fix](../../skills/poteto-mode/playboo
 
 For sustained improvement of one number, there's the [Hillclimb playbook](../../skills/poteto-mode/playbooks/hillclimb.md). Give it the metric, a target, and a floor on attempts, and it loops one hypothesis at a time with a frozen measurement harness. It keeps wins and reverts everything else.
 
+Both perf playbooks run [`/benchmark-checklist`](../../skills/benchmark-checklist/SKILL.md) on their numbers. Perf issue vets its baseline and every number after it, and Hillclimb vets its harness before freezing it. [Verify and ship](./06-verify-and-ship.md#vet-a-measured-number-with-benchmark-checklist) shows when to type it yourself.
+
+Sometimes you want the cause before any fix. For a live symptom, such as a leak, an idle CPU spin, or a visual glitch, the [Runtime forensics playbook](../../skills/poteto-mode/playbooks/runtime-forensics.md) instruments the running process. For a profile you already captured, the [Trace forensics playbook](../../skills/poteto-mode/playbooks/trace-forensics.md) reads the artifact and maps the hot frame to source. Both return a diagnosis, not a fix:
+
+```text
+/poteto-mode here's a cpuprofile from the slow startup. tell me where the time goes and which source lines own it. no fix yet.
+```
+
 ## Write the failing test first with `/tdd`
 
 When a bug has a cheap local test path, the whole prompt can be two words: